In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce yet another "independent journalist". She's an American Canadian conspiracy theorist and propagandist, Eva Bartlett. Eva is part of the "may be partially or wholly under the editorial control of the Russian government" gang.
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Like so many of these so-called journalists, she started as a Palestine activists, and she was a campaigner for the International Solidarity Movement. Bartlett visited Gaza several times, reported about the situation there in her blog.
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She also did speaking tours around North America. Eventually she moved on to Syrian civil war.
These days Bartlett is very much in the same group of al-Assad and Putin apologists as the Grayzone blogger Max Blumenthal, Sonja van den Ende and Vanessa Beeley.
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She is one of the most popular propagandists of this group, and her videos have been viewed millions of times. Bartlett rose to notoriety in 2016, when she was doing some Russia and Syria sponsored reporting from Syria. She stated in a video that there's "overwhelming ...
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...support" for president al-Assad in Syria, and that the rescue organization White Helmets was Western propaganda and that "no one in eastern Aleppo has heard of them". She accused the NGO of recycling actors and footage.Ironically she's done this exact thing in her reports.5/10
In the same footage she suggested that the al-Quds hospital bombing was propaganda and never occurred. This message was of course spread by RT and Sputnik. Syrian government also staged a discussion between Bartlett and the UN.
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All of these statements were naturally lies and were debunked by several outlets. For example, the advocacy group The Syria Campaign and the US-based think tank Atlantic Council have debunked many of Bartlett's lies about the White Helmets.
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As history has shown, these "independent journalists" often support most totalitarian regimes around the world: in 2017 Eva visited North Korea, and suggested that most of the misery and poverty in there are a result of American imperialism.
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Since Apr, 2022, Bartlett has been reporting on Ukraine, sometimes selling her coverage of the events to RT. In Jul, 2022, she was one the speakers at the International Public Tribunal on Ukraine, a propaganda event to for defaming Ukraine and Ukrainians.
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Eva Bartlett has lived in Russia since 2019. She has 48k followers on Youtube and almost 130k followers on Twitter, which makes her a relatively popular pro-Russian propagandist.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russian propagandist Sergei Tsaulin. He’s best-known for spreading pro-Kremlin narratives in Estonia, fleeing to Russia after breaking several laws in Estonia, and almost getting blown up by a bomb in St. Petersburg.
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For years, Tsaulin was known for organizing marches and events glorifying the Soviet Union. Under the excuse of “remembering history,” these events were nothing more than Kremlin propaganda, wrapped in a red flag with a hammer and sickle.
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One of his most infamous events was the “Immortal Regiment” march, held every 9th of May, where people carried portraits of Soviet soldiers. These marches are used by Russia to push the idea that the Baltics owe their existence to the Soviets.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a podcaster and conspiracy theorist, Joe Rogan (@joerogan). He’s best-known for launching the biggest podcast in the world, promoting various conspiracy theories, his support for Donald Trump and his anti-Ukraine rhetoric.
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Joe Rogan started as a stand-up comedian in the 1980s, found fame on NewsRadio, and became a household name with Fear Factor. But his biggest impact came in 2009 when he launched The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), one of the first major podcasts.
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JRE started as casual but deep conversations, often covering countercultural topics like psychedelics, MMA & hunting. Joe’s podcasting style is largely non-confrontational, often allowing his guests to share their views without significant pushback or critical questioning.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce KOOS party leader and Estonian crypto businessman Oleg Ivanov. He’s best known for running shady businesses, spreading Russian false narratives in Estonia, and participating in the pro-Kremlin political party KOOS.
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As a talented youngster, Oleg learned Estonian almost flawlessly, was a promising karate athlete, and landed a job at a law firm at just 20. He caught the eye of Estonian fuel entrepreneur Endel Siff, who quickly took him under his wing.
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Oleg’s father, Vladimir Ivanov, was a longtime politician from the Russian-funded United People’s Party of Estonia. His career at the town hall ended abruptly when he was caught drunk at work. After that, he went into business with his son, Oleg.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about the takeover of social media by illiberal, populist influencers. For the last ten years, social media has been dominated by these voices and it is one of the main reasons for the political rise of people like Trump and Orban.
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“Illiberal populists” like Trump reject democratic norms while claiming to speak for “the people.” They centralize power, attack institutions, and push nationalism over rights. Elections exist, but checks & balances erode. This is democracy in name, autocracy in action.
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The media landscape has changed drastically over the past two decades. The Internet and social media have changed how we interact online & how we consume media,but it has also become our main source of news. In many ways,social media companies have control over information.